With fuel prices in Europe considerably higher than prices in the U.S., the European Union has big plans to help push drivers to electric vehicles and that plan includes adding a huge number of new electric vehicle charging stations.

The European Union wants to add half a million EV charging stations by 2020. If successful, the plan would make electric vehicle charging stations nearly as common as gas stations within the EU.

”We can finally stop the chicken and the egg discussion on whether infrastructure needs to be there before the large scale roll out of electric vehicles. With our proposed binding targets for charging points using a common plug, electric vehicles are set to hit the road in Europe,” said Action Connie Hedegaard, the European Commissioner for Climate.

Tesla Model S

Some of the most ambitious plans in the EU come from Germany, France, Spain, and Britain. Each of those nations has a goal of having more than 7 million electric vehicles on the roads by 2020.

However, the European Union has a long way to go to reach its goal. Electric vehicles aren't exactly rolling off dealer lots at a rapid pace. During 2011, German drivers purchased 1,858 electric vehicles, 1,796 were purchased in France, 1,547 found homes in Norway, and 1,170 were purchased in Britain. Those numbers make EVs only a small fraction of the vehicles on the roads today.

The huge number of EV charging stations is a significant part of the plan to get drivers into electric vehicles, but the charging stations are not the entire plan. The Clean Power for Transport Package is an €8 billion plan that also includes standard for developing hydrogen, biofuels, and other natural gas networks.

When you say, "Financial incentives" are you talking about oil, natural gas, and corn ethanol? If that's the case then I completely agree! Get rid of the frackers. Get rid of the oil pipelines. Get rid of fuel-from-food!

I agree that the oil subsidy argument is pretty bogus in the grand scheme of things, but why are you using a double standard with EVs? The EV subsidy is such a tiny amount of money per year relative to size of the auto sector and the tax revenue it generates.

Where would nuclear power be without government investment to get it off the ground? It's not just research. Government rules to limit liability (and thus take on risk itself) is an enormous subsidy, because private insurance would charge through the roof for something that unproven back in the 50s/60s, and it would never get off the ground on its own.

It was a risk on the taxpayer's dollar, and it worked out. EVs are a similar risk, and there are big potential payoffs down the road. It's a completely different animal from the dubious road of wind/solar.